1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of distributed computing systems and, more particularly, to distributed virtual storage devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Distributed computing systems, such as clusters, may include two or more nodes, which may be employed to perform a computing task. Generally speaking, a node is a group of circuitry designed to perform one or more computing tasks. A node may include one or more processors, a memory and interface circuitry. Generally speaking, a cluster is a group of two or more nodes that have the capability of exchanging data between nodes. A particular computing task may be performed upon one node, while other nodes perform unrelated computing tasks. Alternatively, components of a particular computing task may be distributed among the nodes to decrease the time required perform the computing task as a whole. Generally speaking, a processor is a device configured to perform an operation upon one more operands to produce a result. The operations may be performed in response to instructions executed by the processor.
Nodes within a cluster may have one or more storage devices coupled to the nodes. Generally speaking, a storage device is a persistent device capable of storing large amounts of data. For example, a storage device may be a magnetic storage device such as a disk device, or optical storage device such as a compact disc device. Although a disk device is only one example of a storage device, the term xe2x80x9cdiskxe2x80x9d may be used interchangeably with xe2x80x9cstorage devicexe2x80x9d throughout this specification. Nodes physically connected to a storage device may access the storage device directly. A storage device may be physically connected to one or more nodes of a cluster, but the storage device may not be physically connected to all the nodes of a cluster. The nodes which are not physically connected to a storage device may not access that storage device directly. In some clusters, a node not physically connected to a storage device may indirectly access the storage device via a data communication link connecting the nodes.
It may be advantageous to allow a node to access any storage device within a cluster as if the storage device is physically connected to the node. For example, some applications, such as the Oracle Parallel Server, may require all storage devices in a cluster to be accessed via normal storage device semantics, e.g., Unix device semantics. The storage devices that are not physically connected to a node, but which appear to be physically connected to a node, are called virtual devices, or virtual disks. Generally speaking, a distributed virtual disk system is a software program operating on two or more nodes which provides an interface between a client and one or more storage devices, and presents the appearance that the one or more storage devices are directly connected to the nodes. Generally speaking, a client is a program or subroutine that accesses a program to initiate an action. A client may be an application program or an operating system subroutine.
Unfortunately, conventional virtual disk systems do not guarantee a consistent virtual disk mapping. Generally speaking, a storage device mapping identifies to which nodes a storage device is physically connected and which disk device on those nodes corresponds to the storage device. The node and disk device that map a virtual device to a storage device may be referred to as a node/disk pair. The virtual device mapping may also contain permissions and other information. It is desirable that the mapping is persistent in the event of failures, such as a node failure. A node is physically connected to a device if it can communicate with the device without the assistance of other nodes.
A cluster may implement a volume manager. A volume manager is a tool for managing the storage resources of the cluster. For example, a volume manager may mirror two storage devices to create one highly available volume. In another embodiment, a volume manager may implement striping, which is storing portions of files across multiple storage devices. Conventional virtual disk systems cannot support a volume manager layered either above or below the storage devices.
Other desirable features include high availability of data access requests such that data access requests are reliably performed in the presence of failures, such as a node failure or a storage device path failure. Generally speaking, a storage device path is a direct connection from a node to a storage device. Generally speaking, a data access request is a request to a storage device to read or write data.
In a virtual disk system, multiple nodes may have representations of a storage device. Unfortunately, conventional systems do not provide a reliable means of ensuring that the representations on each node have consistent permission data. Generally speaking, permission data identify which users have permission to access devices, directories or files. Permissions may include read permission, write permission or execute permission.
Still further, it is desirable to have the capability of adding or removing nodes from a cluster or to change the connection of existing nodes to storage devices while the cluster is operating. This capability is particularly important in clusters used in critical applications in which the cluster cannot be brought down. This capability allows physical resources (such as nodes and storage devices) to be added to the system, or repair and replacement to be accomplished without compromising data access requests within the cluster.
The problems outlined above are in large part solved by a highly available virtual disk system in accordance with the present invention. In one embodiment, the highly available virtual disk system provides an interface between each storage device and each node in the cluster. From the node""s perspective, it appears that each storage device is physically connected to the node. If a node is physically connected to a storage device, the virtual disk system directly accesses the storage device. Alternatively, if the node is not physically connected to a storage device, the virtual disk system accesses the storage device through another node in the cluster that is physically connected to the storage device. In one embodiment, the nodes communicate through a data communication link. Whether a storage device is directly accessed or accessed via another node is transparent to the client accessing the storage device.
In one embodiment, the nodes store a mapping of virtual disks to storage devices. For example, each active node may store a mapping identifying a primary node/disk pair and a secondary node/disk pair for each virtual device. Each node/disk pair identifies a node physically coupled to the storage device and a disk device on that node that corresponds to the storage device. The secondary node/disk pair may also be referred to as an alternate node/disk pair. If the node is unable to access a storage device via the primary node/disk pair, the node may retry the data access request via the secondary node/disk pair. To maintain a consistent mapping between the nodes in the presence of failures, the mapping may be stored in a highly available database. Because the highly available database maintains one consistent copy of data even in the presence of a failure, each node that queries the highly available database will get the same mapping. The highly available database may also be used to store permission data to control access to virtual devices. Because the highly available database maintains one consistent copy of permission data even in the presence of a failure, each node that queries the database will get the same permission data.
One feature of a virtual disk system in accordance with the present invention is the high availability of the system. In one embodiment, the virtual disk system stores all of the data access requests it receives and retries those requests if an error occurs. For example, the virtual disk system of a node that initiates a data access request, called a requesting node, may store all outstanding data requests. If the destination node, i.e. the node to which the data access request is directed, is unable to complete the data access request, an error indication may be returned to the requesting node and the requesting node may resend the data access request to an alternate node that is connected to the storage device. This error detection and retry is performed automatically and is transparent to the client. In another example, if a node failure occurs, the virtual disk system may receive a modified list of active nodes and resend incomplete data access requests to active nodes coupled to the storage device. This reconfiguration and retry also is transparent to the client.
Another feature of a virtual disk system in accordance with the present invention is the ability to reconfigure the cluster while the cluster is operating. When a cluster is reconfigured, the mapping of virtual disks to storage devices may be updated. To prevent errors, a synchronization command may be performed or operated to all the nodes of the cluster prior to updating the mapping. The synchronization command causes the nodes to stop issuing data access requests. After the mapping is updated, another synchronization command causes the node to resume issuing data access requests.
The virtual disk system may be designed to serve as an interface between a volume manager and storage devices or between a client and a volume manager. In the former configuration, the client interfaces to the volume manager and the volume manager interfaces to the virtual disk system. In the latter configuration, the client interfaces to the virtual disk system and the virtual disk system interfaces to the volume manager.
Broadly speaking, the present invention contemplates a data transport interface of a distributed computing system including a configuration module and a connection module. The distributed computing system includes a first node, a second node, a third node and a data communication bus. The configuration module is configured to determine a number of active nodes of the distributed computing system and a number of links between the active nodes. The connection module is configured to receive data indicative of the number of active nodes and the number of links from the configuration module, to receive a request from a client to transfer data to a first active node, and to convey the data to the first active node via one or more of the links. When the number of active nodes changes, the configuration module notifies the connection module of the change and the connection module is configured to modify the links to the active nodes transparent to the client.
The present invention further contemplates a method of transporting data in a distributed computing system including a plurality of nodes and a data communication link, the method comprising: determining physical resources in the distributed computing system, wherein the physical resources include active nodes of the distributed computing system and active links between the active nodes; establishing a connection over the active links; receiving a data access request to convey data to a first of the active nodes; conveying the data over one or more of the active links to the first active node; determining that the physical resources have changed; and modifying links to the changed physical resources. The determination of change resources and the modifying of new links is transparent to a client.
The present invention still further contemplates a computer-readable storage medium comprising program instructions for transporting data in a distributed computing system comprising a plurality of nodes and data communication bus, wherein the program instructions execute on a first node or a second node of the distributed computing system and the program instructions are operable to implement the steps of: determining physical resources in the distributed computing system, wherein the physical resources include active nodes of the distributed computing system and active links between the active nodes; establishing a connection over the active links; receiving a data access request to convey data to a first of the active nodes; conveying the data over one or more of the active links to the first active node; determining that the physical resources have changed; and modifying links to the changed physical resources. The determination of change resources and the modifying of new links is transparent to a client.